I'm part of Labour's new generation, Welsh FM says

Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan claims she is part of a "new generation" of Labour politicians ahead of next year's Senedd election - with her party facing a struggle to stay in power.

Fourteen of the current 29 Labour Members of Senedd (MSs) are standing down in May, by which time the party will have been in power in Wales for 27 years.

Morgan, 58, was first elected as a Labour Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in 1994 and an MS in 2016. She said a "brand new team" would set a "very different agenda" in Cardiff Bay.

Plaid Cymru, Reform UK and the Conservatives each say that they represent change next year as they seek to lead the Welsh government for the very first time.

The idea that Labour can offer a vision of change to voters is likely to be seized on by those opposition parties, who criticise Labour's record and say the party has had more than enough time to improve areas like the Welsh NHS and education system.

Labour has not been helped this year by a series of public disagreements between its own politicians at Welsh and UK level over funding and further devolution of power.

The first minister spoke to BBC Wales on Monday for an end-of-year interview at the Welsh government's headquarters at Cathays Park in Cardiff.

Asked about her plan to bring the party back together in time for the election campaign, she said: "There's a new generation coming to town and I'm part of that new generation.

"There are people who have been in the Senedd for a number of years and they've made a fantastic contribution, but the world is moving on."

When asked to explain what she meant by a "new generation", Morgan replied: "What we have is people like Mark Drakeford and Jane Hutt who've made a massive contribution to the country, but they are leaving.

"I'm determined to work with a whole new generation of really able, successful, talented candidates who've got a lot of experience.

"This is a brand new team that is going to be facing the public in the future. It's a team that is looking to the future with hope, that is going to be setting a very different agenda."

Morgan also said it would be a "risk" for voters to opt for Nigel Farage's Reform party, who she said were not responsible enough to deal with the Welsh government's £27bn budget, or Plaid Cymru, whose "ultimate policy aim" of independence would put off investors, she claimed.

She added Labour would offer "stability in an age of instability".

Labour are also losing the services of Morgan's predecessor, former first minister Vaughan Gething, next May, and the man he beat to the top job in 2024 – the current health secretary Jeremy Miles.

In a difficult year for Labour, the party suffered a heavy defeat in the Caerphilly by-election, coming third behind Plaid Cymru and Reform.

The Welsh government wants - but has not been given - control of the Crown Estate, policing, youth justice and Wales' share of HS2 high-speed rail funding.

The demands were repeated in Morgan's "Red Welsh Way" speech in May, where she said she would "call out" Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer if he made decisions that she felt harmed Wales.

On Monday, Morgan said work on the Crown Estate and youth justice were "progressing quietly behind the scenes", but that she was "focused on the things that people in Wales really are much more concerned with".

Within the past fortnight, there has also been a row over the UK government rather than the Welsh government deciding on where to spend town centre regeneration funds in Wales.

But there have also been wins for Morgan in 2025 - with the UK government's decisions to scrap the two-child benefits cap, mitigate reforms to the winter fuel payment, and confirm plans for a new nuclear power station on Anglesey.

There was also an announcement of more than £400m for Welsh railways in Chancellor Rachel Reeves' spending review - but opposition parties said it fell short of what Wales needed.

Earlier in December, 11 backbench Labour MSs wrote to the prime minister to express their frustration that UK ministers were retaining control over a portion of the funds which replace former EU money sent to Wales, and of not delivering on some of Morgan's other demands.

Morgan said she was "on the same page" as her backbenchers and denied they were undermining her because she had spoken to Starmer herself about the issue.

She would not confirm whether she had spoken to the signatories, saying "what happens in Labour group is something for Labour group".

On Sunday the Welsh finance secretary Mark Drakeford called for the law which allows the intervention - the UK Internal Market Act (UKIMA) to be repealed.

Morgan argued that what Wales was getting now was an improvement from when there was a Conservative government at Westminster, but added: "I'll always be clear that I don't want to see the single market act being used in Wales. That's our policy position."

"The way I deal with things is by picking up the phone and speaking directly to people. You know, I don't do things in letters to the prime minister," she added.

"That's not how I function."

Plaid Cymru has tabled a debate on the letter in the Senedd for Wednesday.

The party said the first minister's claim to be part of a 'new generation' was "absurd", considering she had been in frontline politics in three different parliaments for over three decades.

"She cannot distance herself from her party's record here in Wales, nor in Westminster," said a spokesperson.

"The people of Wales know that she has been instrumental in the failure we see right now in our public services, such as the rampant instability in Betsi Cadwaladr."

Senedd conservative leader Darren Millar said: "It really is laughable for Eluned Morgan to claim to be part of a new generation when she has been a frontline Labour politician in Wales since 1994.

"After almost 27 years of Labour, supported by Plaid and the Lib Dems, Wales is broken. Only the Welsh Conservatives have a credible plan to fix Wales and deliver the positive change that Wales needs."

A Reform UK Wales spokesperson said: "There's no next generation of Labour in Wales, only a 26 year legacy of failure.

"Wales needs a clean break from the establishment parties who have proven, time and time again, that they will only make our public services worse.

"With Plaid in bed with Labour, the only chance for change is with Reform."